Exhibitions
Colours of the imagination
This exhibition is based on the history of the museum's collection – the private eye collection of the late Kotaro Terada – and on the theme of "Black and White" which was one of Terada's core interests. The way in which the works are displayed also echoes this characteristic. Following a traditional approach to hanging paintings in a private house, Gender uses the "salon style" of hanging, in which the artworks are clustered in groups that extend both vertically and horizontally or fill a whole wall rather than being largely lined up at eye height. The theme "Black and White" is based on Terada's childhood experience of being disappointed when movies changed from monochrome to colour, leading him to recognise that innovation in mode of expression does not necessarily lead immediately to a richer experience. The exhibition is Gander's response, which resonates with this idea that there is "room for imagination" in a black and white world.
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With Winds
1989
pigment, oil on paper
photo: SAITO Arata
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U-123-94
1994
pigment on Japanese paper
photo; HAYAKAWA Koichi
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Kanryu
1973
oil on canvas
photo; HAYAKAWA Koichi
All our stories are incomplete...
Something that is commonplace in exhibitions is missing here – the lighting. Viewers take a torch at the entrance and enter a dimly-lit space, where they can shine their own light to see the works. One of the characteristics of Gander's practice is that rather than following received ideas or stereotypes, he questions them from the outset. The result here is an opportunity for visitors to reaffirm the act and intention of seeing, to pay attention to things we might have missed in a normal lighted exhibition and to look around for a better view by illuminating here and there, all creating an intimate one-to-one relationship with the artworks. The potential of this perspective will continue to influence viewers even after leaving the exhibition.
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Series Wataru: Nichijin
1999
oil on canvas
photo: SAITO Arata
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At the Aquarium
1976
oil on canvas
photo: SAITO Arata
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Untitled 159810
1998
oil on canvas
photo: SAITO Arata
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